Where the Palace Item Vault Lies

Finding the palace item vault took no time at all. Yujun had already looked the whole place over when he first arrived, and the king would never in his dreams have guessed as much.

This is why I can never take the Invisibility Ring off.

Yujun and his companions reached the vault, which lay in the exact opposite direction from the banquet hall.

"Security's no joke."

Yujun muttered. The knights posted in front of the vault alone numbered more than ten, and once he added the players loitering around them, the total had to be twenty at the least. More than the last time he had checked.

Did the king catch on?

If so, the response had been far too quick. He might have contacted the knights ahead of time by messenger.

Well, doesn't matter.

However many people stood out front, he was confident he could get inside without being seen.

"Manuela. Paranet. You two are summons, so wait here."

"Yes. Understood!"

"I'm not a summon, though..."

Yujun slipped on the Invisibility Ring and stole toward the item vault, only to stop after a few steps. A barrier had been set up ahead.

The knights are wandering around just fine, so it must only apply to outsiders.

And there wasn't just one. Another barrier blocked spatial movement, which meant Paranet's Space Movement would be useless.

The fix, in a case like this, was simple. Use Flash.

Unlike Blink, which could not cross an obstacle in its path, Flash carried no such restriction. Walls, and even barriers, could be leapt clean over.

Yujun did not hesitate. He used Flash first.

A flash, and he was inside the vault. He focused his senses.

The barrier didn't trigger.

He had made it into the item vault without incident. He looked the place over.

There's a lot of stuff, I'll give it that.

He could not say the grades were high.

They said there were plenty of dungeons around here, but there are almost no high-grade items?

There was another problem on top of that. A barrier lay over the piles so the items could not be taken. Touch one, and a tremendous noise would ring out.

I don't even want most of this, and the security is airtight.

Nothing caught his eye. Still, dust gathered makes a mountain. Even Hero-grade items sold for a high price, he had heard, so he decided to take only the choice pieces.

Yujun drew up his mana. A barrier of this level could be undone without much trouble through Ancient Magic. He had walked past the ones outside because there was no need to remove them, but now was the time to use the ability.

Ancient Magic (EX++) was all-purpose. More precisely, it was the power of the skill's grade. What would have been impossible at a low rank, EX++ could accomplish without difficulty.

Once he had grasped the barrier's mana formula, Yujun set straight to undoing it. Dispelling a barrier the size of a single room took less than ten seconds. He swept every item of Hero grade and above into his inventory.

Oh. Converted to coin, this'll come to quite a bit.

Unfortunately, he found no consumables. Everything was equipment. Yujun was not disappointed.

The truly important items might be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept somewhere else.

There was a chance they sat in the king's inventory, but if a player died, the items inside that inventory ceased to exist as well. The king of a nation would face assassination threats constantly, and his relations with the noble faction were already poor, so he would have been uneasy. Items that absolutely could not be lost, then, would not have been stored in an inventory.

Let's look further.

He summoned Tapagol. The golem was only a guide, good at finding paths, but this was a moment when even a cat's paw would do.

"Tapagol."

"Yes."

"Think you can find items?"

"What sort of item do you mean?"

"Anything other than what's already here. Nearby or far off, it doesn't matter."

"I will search."

Tapagol's body vibrated once.

"Master."

"What."

"There is an item directly above our current position."

"Above? The ceiling?"

"Yes. The floor above."

"...That so? All right. Head back in."

"Understood."

Come to think of it, where had that guy even been looking? Tapagol ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been speaking to empty air rather than to Yujun the whole time.

Ah. Right. I was wearing the Invisibility Ring.

Did summons lose sight of him too, once he put it on? That was news.

And can a guide golem normally find items in the first place?

It had been impossible in the game. Tapagol had to be a special case.

Tapagol vanished, and Yujun looked up at the ceiling. There was no need to break through it. He used Flash again. A fraction of a second passed, and he was standing in an entirely different space.

Yujun narrowed his eyes.

A bedroom?

One large bed stood there. Thin decorative cloth hung around it, and on the bed lay a rabbit. The moment Yujun saw the rabbit, his eyes went wide. A familiar face. King Calton himself.

Something was wrong, though. Yujun had been checking the king's location all along. He had spread his senses just now and confirmed it again, and the result was the same. The king was still in the banquet hall.

Yujun trusted his senses more than his eyes, and so he could be certain. The rabbit on the bed was not the king.

Not Sirius either.

The face was subtly different.

They tried to hide it, but they couldn't completely cover the stench of a Demon God Worshipper.

It was a trace so faint it barely qualified as residue, but Yujun's keen senses told him the rabbit was one of the Demon God Worshippers.

At that moment, someone entered the room. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠An orc, shadows under his eyes, worn down with exhaustion.

A Demon God Worshipper?

The orc, too, carried the aura that clung only to Demon God Worshippers.

"Terry. Get up, quickly. This is no time to be sleeping."

"I wasn't asleep. Don't worry."

The rabbit on the bed answered the Demon God Worshipper orc.

"The king will be here soon. Get ready."

"Of course. How is the situation unfolding?"

"As you know, the original plan failed, and the royalist nobles are cleaning up the mess and congratulating themselves."

"Idiots."

"Isn't 'idiots' a bit much? They're merely unfortunate."

"In any case, kill the king and we'll be able to move this Underground Kingdom however we please."

"Right. I'm counting on you from here. Let's both put in the work and aim for a promotion."

"Complacency is forbidden. Go to your post and wait."

"Got it."

The orc hid himself behind a large ornament. He was a considerable bulk, but the ornament was larger still, more than enough to cover him. Watching them, Yujun let a smile touch his mouth.

They're up to something entertaining.

They seemed to have planned the king's assassination. After the killing, a Demon God Worshipper with Calton's exact appearance would play at being king. Was this the approach they had settled on because the royalist faction had won an overwhelming victory?

But is a king's quarters usually guarded this sloppily?

Part of it was probably that the king himself was strong. In Yujun's estimation, aside from the three members of Coordination, the king was the strongest person in the palace.

The problem was that the two Demon God Worshippers conspiring in the bedroom possessed greater martial power than the king himself. At this rate, the odds of the king being assassinated were high. He likely did not even know an assassination threat existed.

Yujun fell into thought. Strictly speaking, it was none of his concern. Whether the king lived or died would no longer affect him at all.

Even so, he decided to help the king. More precisely, he decided to kill the two Demon God Worshippers. The reason was simple. Demon God Worshippers were his enemies. Leaving them alive made no sense.

And I do feel a little sorry toward Sirius.

The Synchronization Marble. It would have been a completely useless item to the boy, but to Yujun it was a treasure of the ages.

I'm human too, you know. Human.

He had swapped the marble with a replica slate and taken it for himself, so he felt bad for the kid. The perfect chance to lighten that weight on his conscience had walked in on its own.

Yujun took up his sword. Until that moment, neither Demon God Worshipper had sensed a thing. Then, when the distance closed to five meters, the rabbit startled and threw herself aside. Yujun's sword stabbed into the spot where she had been. He drew the blade from the bed and knocked aside a pudao that came flying from behind.

Crack!

The pudao split in half.

Yujun took off the Invisibility Ring and put his original ring back on. Once he had been found out, there was no point keeping the Invisibility Ring on. Switching back to his proper ring and raising his stats was far more effective.

The orc spoke, face tense.

"Who are you."

"You can tell by looking, can't you?"

Yujun's mocking tone. The orc's eyes widened.

"...Shin Yujun?"

"Heard you'd shown up at the banquet hall. So it was true. But why are you here...?"

"Just window-shopping."

"Window-shopping? What's that?"

"It's a thing."

Yujun glanced sidelong around the room. He had already swept it once, and nothing had stood out.

I'll have to call Tapagol again later.

He spoke again.

"What are you waiting for? Not coming at me?"

"You'll regret appearing before us."

Colchi said it. The two Demon God Worshippers were confident in their skill.

Honestly, I'd struggle alone, but if it's Shontie and me together, there's a chance.

The orc Colchi judged their odds to be high. Nearly two years had passed since the two of them received the Demon God's Grace. The longer one bore that Grace, the more its effects amplified, which meant their power had ripened accordingly. The difference between having the Grace and lacking it was already enormous, and with each year that passed, the gap in years of cultivation grew just as vast.

They were in their second year. Their levels were not much different from other Demon God Worshippers, but their stats had reached abnormal figures. Stats accounted for a considerable share of combat, and that fact poured enormous confidence into Shontie and Colchi.

I've heard every Demon God Worshipper who picked a fight with Shin Yujun got taken down, but...

He was a little afraid, truth be told, but the orc Colchi steadied himself.

We're different.

Colchi and Shontie stood side by side to face Yujun. One spark from disaster.

"Oh, right."

Out of nowhere, Yujun pulled the Absolute Sealing Orb from his inventory, and without a moment's hesitation he undid Rozi's seal.

Another Demon God Worshipper: Rozi. He appeared before Shontie and Colchi.

"...Hkk! Hah! K-kill me! Please, kill me!"

Rozi appeared looking haggard and rushed frantically toward Yujun. Yujun kicked him in the forehead.

Thwack!

"Guhk!"

"What's wrong with you? That's disgusting. You into that sort of thing?"

"N-no! I don't want to go back in there! I was wrong! I'm sorry for acting tough! Please!"

"..."

Was being inside the Absolute Sealing Orb really that bad? He was curious, but watching Rozi's reaction killed any desire to go in himself. Wasn't the reaction of everyone who went in and came back out always the same? They would rather die. It was accepted truth that the higher a player's caliber, the stronger their mind, and even people of far higher caliber than Yujun had failed to endure it. The Heresy Inquisitor and Rozi were living proof.

Ah. The Heresy Inquisitor isn't living proof. He's dead proof.

Yujun had killed him himself, at that.

"Isn't that Rozi?"

"Huh? Yeah, it is."

To his surprise, Shontie and Colchi recognized him.

"Just how famous are you? They all know you."

"...Those two received the Grace in the same cohort as me. Of course they'd know."

"Same cohort, huh?"

Yujun set his sword against Rozi's neck. Now that death was actually in front of him, Rozi scrambled backward.

"Didn't you ask me to kill you?"

"I... I... I'd like you to give me just one chance."

"So you don't want to die."

Yujun looked from Colchi to Shontie to Rozi.

"Of the three of you, I'll let live only the one who coughs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up proper information."

"Unbelievable. You're already certain of victory?"

"I misspoke. The two who talk properly, I'll kill nice and clean. The least cooperative little one gets the sealing orb. As a gift."

These were hard times, with housing prices gone completely mad and a home of one's own all but impossible to secure. The present Yujun was offering a Demon God Worshipper was a single shaft of saving light. At the words sealing orb gift, Rozi's face went tight with panic.

"M-me! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! What do you want to know?"